New Hampshire has most machine guns per capita in the country

Sunday

Jan 20, 2013 at 3:15 AMJan 20, 2013 at 1:10 PM

DOVER — The number of automatic weapons in New Hampshire increased dramatically after 2010, according to federal firearms records, although it remains unclear whether the growth is being driven by civilians, law enforcement or the military.

By Jim Haddadinjhaddadin@fosters.com

A 1940s-era submachine gun is seen at Riley's Sport Shop in Hooksett on Thursday, Jan. 17.

DOVER — The number of automatic weapons in New Hampshire increased dramatically after 2010, according to federal firearms records, although it remains unclear whether the growth is being driven by civilians, law enforcement or the military.

The number of registered machine guns in New Hampshire spiked 80 percent between the end of 2010 and March 2012, according to the most current data available from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Unlike semi-automatic weapons, machine guns have been subject to federal restrictions for decades. Machine guns are weapons that can operate in a “fully automatic” mode, meaning multiple shots can be fired by simply holding down the trigger.

Semi-automatic weapons — such as the Bushmaster .223 rifle carried by Newtown elementary school shooter Adam Lanza — are limited to firing a single shot each time the trigger is pressed.

It's illegal for civilians in the United States to own any machine gun manufactured after 1986, though several hundred thousand weapons made before that date are still in circulation around the country.

ATF data indicates there were 9,863 registered machine guns in New Hampshire as of last March, up from 5,479 in December 2010.

A Foster's Sunday Citizen analysis found that there are now an estimated 7.5 machine guns in New Hampshire for every 1,000 people in the state, based on ATF data and the latest population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

That ratio is higher than anywhere else in the United States or Puerto Rico. The second highest ratio is found in the District of Columbia, where there were 6.77 machine guns for every 1,000 people. Connecticut was third on the list, at 6.13 guns per 1,000.

The figures provided by the ATF could conceivably include new weapons manufactured in New Hampshire for law enforcement or military use. They could also include guns held by local police departments or law enforcement tactical teams.

ATF representatives have declined to release more detailed information from the agency's database of controlled weapons.

“We would not be able to release any information about the individuals,” ATF spokeswoman Donna Sellers said, explaining that the information is shielded from public disclosure because it's considered a tax record.

ATF has not responded to a request made under the Freedom of Information Act by Foster's Sunday Citizen on Dec. 31, 2012, seeking more detailed records about machine gun owners.

Firearms dealers in the area say fully automatic weapons are generally owned by collectors these days, in part because of the high prices they fetch, and also because of the regulatory hoops involved in owning one.

Civilians seeking to own machine guns must fill out paperwork for the ATF and satisfy requirements to gather fingerprints and photographs, and to obtain the sign-off of the chief law enforcement officer where they reside.

The documentation is then processed by an ATF examiner — a process that currently lasts a minimum of about five months, according to Evan Nappen, a Concord attorney who specializes in weapons laws.

“There's a lot of paperwork and there's a lot of regulation,” Nappen said.

Machine guns have been regulated in the United States since as early as 1934, when Congress passed the National Firearms Act to combat “gangster” violence that had increased during prohibition, according to information available from the ATF.

The National Firearms Act imposed an excise tax on manufacturing and transferring machine guns and some other weapons, including short-barreled shotguns, rifles and silencers.

The NFA also required that all machine guns must be registered in a federal database known as the National Registration and Transfer Record.

A machine gun is defined by federal law as “any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot,” multiple shots with a single pull of the trigger. Parts that can be converted into a machine gun must also be registered with the ATF.

In 1986, Congress halted all domestic manufacturing of machine guns through passage of the Firearm Owners Protection Act. The measure made it illegal for civilians to possess or transfer any machine gun that was manufactured after May 1986.

New Hampshire doesn't have any laws that restrict the possession of machine guns or other firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act.

However, people with knowledge of the ATF's regulatory process warn it can be burdensome to buy and sell so-called “NFA weapons” — meaning those controlled by the National Firearms Act.

To begin with, transferring a machine gun, or most any other NFA weapon, to another person requires payment of a $200 federal tax. In the case of a private machine gun sale, either the buyer or seller is required to pay the tax before the swap.

Licensed firearms dealers can avoid paying the transfer tax by instead paying an annual “special occupational tax,” but only a fraction of the gun dealers in New Hampshire have opted to pay for it, according to ATF records.

Of the more than 350 licensed firearms dealers in the state, about 30 were paying the tax as of 2011.

Individuals who wish to purchase a machine gun from a dealer or through a private sale from someone residing in the same state are required to submit a package of information to the ATF before they can proceed.

The application requires individuals to provide at a minimum, their name, as well as photo identification. Individuals are also required to obtain written permission from the chief law enforcement officer in their community, whether a county sheriff or municipal police chief.

The forms must then be processed by the ATF and returned before the machine gun or other weapon can be transferred.

“The waiting period lately has been five to six months after the submission of your documents in which they are specifically examined by an individual and approved or disapproved,” Nappen said.

The owner of Riley's Sports Shop in Hooksett, Ralph Demicco, talks about a 1940s-era submachine gun on Thursday, Jan. 17.

Despite the increase in registered machine guns in the state, dealers who are licensed to exchange the weapons on behalf of clients said they doubt the figure is being driven by civilian sales.

Dover gun-shop owner John Domfort said he's been paying the special tax to transfer restricted weapons for more than two years, and hasn't been involved in any machine gun transactions at his shop, Tactical Defense Solutions.

Domfort said machine gun owners are typically firearms collectors who are drawn to the historical value of the weapons. Customers who own them aren't usually interested in buying or selling their pieces, Domfort said.

“The guys that buy them, they're the same guys that invest in gold,” he said.

Penny Dean, a Concord attorney who specializes in gun ownership issues, said the ban on civilian manufacturing has sent prices soaring on some rare weapons, bumping the price of a weapon that would have previously cost $3,500 into the range of $60,000.

Even an automatic weapon on the cheap end of the spectrum, such as an Uzi — a type of smaller submachine gun — will run $10,000 and up, Dean said.

“Typically, these are really good investment vehicles,” she said. “A lot of people buy them strictly for investments because you just can't get any more. It's a finite supply, and the price just keeps going up.”

There are also three major, high-end auctioneers who sell machine guns in New Hampshire, Dean said.

“They turn through a whole pile of machine guns, and so it's very possible ... that right now the three auction houses just happen to be holding a bunch and are in the process of auctioning them,” she said.

At Riley's Sport Shop in Hooksett, only one fully automatic weapon was hanging on the shelves on Thursday. It was a 1940s-era H&R Model 50 “Reising” submachine gun, trimmed in a walnut stock, which was valued at $4,500.

Given the limited supply of fully-automatic weapons manufactured before 1986, machine guns have consistently held their value, Riley's owner Ralph Demicco said last week.

“I have not seen an increase in the interest in machine guns,” he said. “It's a pretty stable market.”

Lately, customers have been more interested in products being eyed for new regulations, such as semi-automatic weapons, Demicco said.

Riley's was packed on Thursday morning, one day after President Barack Obama unveiled a new package of gun control measures being backed by the White House.

Nappen agreed that buying and selling machine guns is “not a poor man's game.” He suspects manufacturing is the primary factor influencing the registration bump in New Hampshire.

Qualified gun manufacturers are still permitted to make new machine guns for sale to government entities, or for export or use as dealer sales samples in gun shops.

Other states, such as South Carolina, have competed more vigorously than New Hampshire to attract gun manufacturers, according Nappen. Despite that fact, New Hampshire has favorable gun ownership laws, and more than 80 gun manufacturers are currently registered to do business in the state.

Manufacturers who wish to produce machine guns can avoid paying a so-called “making tax” on each individual weapon by paying an annual tax of $500.

Twenty nine firearms manufacturers in the state were paying the special tax in 2011, according to ATF records, making them eligible to produce machine guns and other NFA weapons.

Among them were some well-known names in the gun industry, such as Sig Sauer and Sturm, Ruger & Company.

Also on the list is Umlaut Industries, a smaller manufacturer in Concord that produces a range of products, including some NFA weapons.

Owner Lars Högblom said he is required to notify the ATF within hours of producing controlled weapons. Serial numbers and model numbers are also recorded in the business' so-called “bound book” of gun registrations.

Högblom said he suspects the number of registered machine guns in the state has been driven by new machine guns being registered at manufacturing facilities around the state.

Sig Sauer and Ruger both manufacture machine guns, Högblom said. Sig Sauer also recently introduced a new law enforcement submachine gun, an automatic weapon that fires handgun-caliber bullets, he said.

Heckler and Koch, which has a facility in Newington, is also known to manufacture machine guns for the Department of Defense, Högblom said.

“There's a lot of guys overseas that have their machine guns as well,” he said.

Representatives from Ruger, Sig Sauer and Heckler and Koch did not return phone calls or emails this week seeking comment about their manufacturing operations in the state.